Bielat's fake site mocks Kennedy with plea for office supplies

Tuesday

Aug 7, 2012 at 12:01 AMAug 7, 2012 at 7:17 AM

Kennedy’s staff last weekend issued a plea to supporters asking for materials for campaign offices.

In a tongue-in-cheek response, the campaign of Sean Bielat launched a site solicits that money for office supplies for Kennedy’s campaign. A small disclaimer notes Bielat plans to keep most of the money collected for his own campaign.

Chloe Gotsis

Joe Kennedy III’s campaign could be getting a little help from an unlikely source: one of his Republican opponents.

In an email obtained by the Boston Globe, Kennedy’s staff last weekend issued a plea to supporters asking for materials for campaign offices.

In a tongue-in-cheek response to news of the email, the campaign of Sean Bielat, Republican primary candidate for the Fourth Congressional seat that Kennedy is also vying for, launched www.JoeKennedyGiftRegistry.com on July 31.

The site solicits money for office supplies for Kennedy’s campaign, but a small disclaimer notes Bielat plans to keep most of the money collected for his own campaign. Only a small portion will go toward sending a box of supplies to Kennedy’s regional office.

“This is a creative fundraising effort from the Bielat campaign,” said spokeswoman Adrienne Royer, “to show how out of touch the Kennedy campaign is with the $2.6 million they have in the bank, when people are struggling to buy school supplies for kids.”

Kennedy’s latest fundraising disclosure revealed he has raised $2.4 million so far and has $1.9 million in cash on hand.

The email, sent out by Kennedy campaign operations manager Luisa Maria Bardaracco, asked supporters for donations of clipboards, file folders, staples, art supplies, kitchen dish racks, first aid kits, mops, nonperishable food, and silverware that is “real not plastic,” according to a Globe story.

“Because the Bielat for Congress campaign believes that every campaign staffer deserves a stapler, we created an online gift registry to help the recent graduate provide office supplies for his staff,” notes www.JoeKennedyGiftRegistry.com.

The site lists the prices of items requested in the email, such as $5 for a sink strainer, $7.50 for a clipboard and $50 for a set of silverware.

“Careful spending and smart budgeting are priorities for Joe and for this campaign,” said Kennedy spokeswoman Emily Brown. “We are extremely grateful for all of the support we have received thus far.”

She declined to comment on whether she thought the site would confuse donors enough for them to think they were actually giving to Kennedy ’s campaign.

Paul Ryan, senior legal counsel for the Washington, D.C. based Campaign Legal Center, said the site is legal because it includes the required “paid for” disclosure. Nor does he think the site misleads donors, since it pokes fun at Kennedy’s campaign.

“In my view, it doesn’t cross the line into deceptive, it just seems like a lame joke,” he said. “I can’t envision a person of obvious intelligence being fooled.”

Brookline psychiatrist Elizabeth Childs and Fall River dentist David Steinhof are also running for the Republican nomination for the seat. Newton engineer Herb Robinson and LaRouche candidate Rachel Brown are running for the Democratic nomination.

Contact Wicked Local reporter Chloe Gotsis at 781-433-8333 or cgotsis@wickedlocal.com